MANILA, Philippines — The earlier waste administration contractor within the Metropolis of Manila has disputed allegations that it deserted its obligation to gather trash, sustaining that it knowledgeable the native authorities that it might not serve the town as soon as the contract ended on December 31.
In a press release on Monday, Leonel Waste Administration Company (Leonel) clarified that they met with Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna in September 2024 to inform her that they won’t take part within the new contract bidding for the town’s trash collector, because the native authorities has didn’t pay them for months.
“We’re deeply involved that information is circulating that we deserted our obligation with the Metropolis of Manila earlier than our contract ended on December 31, 2024. We strongly refute this accusation, which grossly undermines the onerous work and efforts of all our rubbish collectors, who we thank deeply for his or her excellent service,” Leonel stated.
“Final September 2024, we met with Mayor Lacuna informing her that we’ll not take part within the 2025 bidding due to the Metropolis’s mounting unpaid obligations to Leonel, with a view to give the Metropolis sufficient time to organize and guarantee a easy transition to the brand new service supplier,” it added.
In line with the corporate, it instructed workers to proceed working through the vacation season till the top of the contract interval on December 31, regardless that Manila’s unpaid obligations had risen to P561.4 million.
Article continues after this commercial
“Actually, final December 23, 2024, once we introduced to our workers that our contract of service is ending on December 31, 2024, we mandated them to proceed doing our normal providers till the top of our contract, particularly in anticipation of the same old surge of rubbish caused by the vacation season,” Leonel stated.
Article continues after this commercial
“Our firm, Leonel, has all the time put our shoppers first and has by no means, nor will ever, abandon our obligation of rubbish assortment. We now have faithfully served our contract till December 31, 2024, regardless of the Metropolis of Manila’s complete debt to our firm amounting to PhP561,440,000,” it added.
Leonel’s clarification got here after a number of Manila residents expressed frustration over the native authorities’s rubbish assortment issues, with piles of trash seen alongside the town’s streets after the New Yr celebrations.
A number of residents left critiques on Lacuna’s Fb web page or posted photographs and movies displaying rubbish piling up alongside Manila’s streets, as collectors had not picked up the waste.
READ: Netizens fume over Manila’s uncollected post-holiday rubbish
However in a Fb submit, Lacuna stated that the issues stemmed from the previous rubbish collector, Leonel, including that the native authorities is addressing these points.
“Katulad po ng una nating sinabi, ang kapabayaan ng nakaraang rubbish collector ay aayusin natin kung kaya’t dalawa na po ngayon ang humahakot ng basura sa lungsod: ang Metrowaste at PhilEco. Ang nagdaang Pasko at Bagong Taon ay nagdulot ng 400% na pagtaas ng basura sa Maynila na tila iniwanan na lamang bigla ng relationship contractor,” she stated in a Fb submit on Saturday.
(As we talked about earlier, we’ll deal with the negligence of the earlier rubbish collector, which is why there at the moment are two waste collectors within the metropolis: Metrowaste and PhilEco. The Christmas and New Yr holidays induced a 400 p.c enhance in waste in Manila, which appeared to have been abruptly left behind by the previous contractor.)
“Dahil po dito, mariin kong iniutos ngayon sa ating mga bagong collectors ang tuloy-tuloy na paghakot ng basura—24/7 kung kinakailangan. Maglalagay rin po ang ating Division of Public Providers at Process Drive In opposition to Street Obstruction ng hotlines para sa mga reklamo habang nasa transition interval pa tayo. Makakaasa po kayong hindi ko palalampasin ang pananabotaheng ito at mananagot ang sinumang sangkot dito,” she added.
(Due to this, I’ve strongly instructed our new waste collectors to proceed rubbish assortment—24/7 if needed. The Division of Public Providers and the Process Drive In opposition to Street Obstruction can even present hotlines for complaints whereas we’re nonetheless within the transition interval. You could be assured that I can’t let this sabotage slide, and people concerned shall be held accountable.)
The sabotage try that Lacuna was referring to was a supposed plan to create confusion and chaos inside the metropolis’s waste administration system. In one other submit on her Fb web page, Lacuna stated the town authorities is not going to tolerate any sabotage makes an attempt, be it from inside or outdoors the town corridor.
At the moment, Manila is transitioning from the earlier contractor to MetroWaste Stable Waste Administration Company and Phil. Ecology Programs Company, which have been tapped to gather the town’s trash beneath a contract value P842.7 million for 2025.
MetroWaste is similar trash accumulating contractor dragged into allegedly problematic waste assortment in Parañaque Metropolis through the 2022 holidays.
In February 2023, Parañaque resident Genaro Clemente, Jr. filed graft raps in opposition to a number of metropolis officers together with Mayor Eric Olivarez earlier than the Workplace of the Ombudsman, for supposedly railroading a contract value virtually P415 million.
Your subscription couldn’t be saved. Please strive once more.
Your subscription has been profitable.
Olivarez awarded the contract to Metrowaste final December 27, 2022, 25 days after the Bids and Awards Committee revealed its name for bidding on the PhilGEPS web site on December 2, 2022. Clemente, Jr. claimed that Metrowaste failed to amass the mandatory documentary necessities of the bid, which resulted in rubbish piling up within the streets of Parañaque through the holidays